US leader enters talks with superpower rival from vulnerable position, but will be hoping for economic wins amid turbulent backdrop
If all goes to plan over the next few days – and that is a big if – Donald Trump will arrive in Beijing on Wednesday for a highly anticipated summit with Xi Jinping, China’s leader.
The trip will mark the first time a US president has visited China in nearly a decade. The last visit was also made by Trump, during his first term, in 2017.
Back then, Beijing pulled out all the stops. On the three-day trip Trump and his wife, Melania, were treated to a private tour of the Forbidden City, the sprawling palace that housed Chinese emperors for centuries, and sat for a traditional Peking opera performance. The Chinese described it as a “state visit-plus”.
But in the intervening nine years there has been a trade war, a global pandemic, an intensification of concern in Washington about Chinese military activity, and another trade war.
